Reviews
A Hugo Award-Winning Series!
An ALA RUSA Reading List Selection!
“Dangerous, subtle, unexpected and familiar, angry and ferocious and hopeful. . . . The Empress of Salt and Fortune is a remarkable accomplishment of storytelling.”—NPR
“Dazzling. . . . Readers who missed Vo’s debut will have no trouble following the second leg of Chih’s travels, and those returning will be pleased to sink into another lush, sophisticated story of queer love and survival.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Nghi Vo is one of the most original writers we have today.”—Taylor Jenkins Reid on Siren Queen
“You don’t have to read Nghi Vo’s debut in order to follow this second short novel, but you’ll want to! Feminist, layered and queer AF, Nghi Vo’s storytelling will mesmerize you. You should probably just read them both.”—Ms. Magazine
“As a piece of fantasy literature, Vo’s worldbuilding is a command performance… We are in a golden age of the novella, and Vo knows how to make the most of the form, with short, propelling chapters and potent ideas. The world is scaffolded off real history and folk traditions but feels fresh and interesting, and Vo once again succeeds in using a scholarly, contemplative protagonist to tease deep emotion and significance out of old stories.”—The Chicago Review of Books
“So good I want to marry it.”—Martha Wells, New York Times bestselling author of The Murderbot Diaries
“Vo is my favorite fantasy debut of 2020.”—Smart Bitches, Trashy Books
“This lyrical story of the cleric Chih unraveling the story of a ravenous tiger is unforgettably original and gorgeously written.“—PopSugar
Praise for The Empress of Salt and Fortune
“Dangerous, subtle, unexpected and familiar, angry and ferocious and hopeful… The Empress of Salt and Fortune is a remarkable accomplishment of storytelling.”—NPR
“Gorgeous. Cruel. Perfect.”—Seanan McGuire
“A quiet, wrenching tale of resistance, resilience, and court intrigue.”—R. F. Kuang
“A tale of rebellion and fealty that feels both classic and fresh, The Empress of Salt and Fortune is elegantly told, strongly felt, and brimming with rich detail. An epic in miniature, beautifully realised.”—Zen Cho
